San Diego  Nearly every weekday, student Ana Lomeli bypasses the cookie and potato-chip-laden kiosk outside the Monroe Clark Middle School cafeteria and makes her way through the salad bar line.

If the federal government has its way, the same scenario that’s become more commonplace in San Diego Unified schools will eventually play out in cafeterias across the country. That goal, however, comes with a possible financial impact — the effects of which San Diego Unified School District

officials have yet to determine.

Allocating more money toward food services is nothing new for a district that’s made it a priority to become a bastion of nutrient-rich, locally grown public school meals. It pours nearly $55 million of its $1.2 billion annual operating budget into food services.

But with new regulations come price points that may seem realistic in Washington, D.C., but aren’t as feasible in San Diego.

Last week, President Barack Obama signed the federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, a plan intent on diverting children away from sugary, fat-filled calorie bombs such as snack cakes and chocolate bars and igniting an interest in vegetables, fruits, exercise and healthy living.

First lady Michelle Obama promoted the bill as part of her “Let’s Move” campaign aimed at reducing childhood obesity.

The measure requires schools to make healthy choices more readily available and offers $4.5 billion in financial incentives over 10 years for those that meet nutritional standards set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

According to the bill, schools will be given an average of six cents toward each meal that meets USDA nutrition standards starting in fall 2012.

Gary Petill, the Unified district’s food services director, said the cost of those meals could hover around 20 cents each, meaning a loss of 14 cents for each meal. That’s a loss of more than a quarter per student per day if he or she eats both breakfast and lunch on campus.

Another qualm Petill has is that the bill leaves behind “on-the-fence” families that can’t afford school meals but don’t qualify for free lunch programs. Under the policy, schools will have to charge more for meals served to students who can afford them, meaning if the cafeteria prices its breakfast at $2 now, it will have to eventually raise the price to $2.85 within five years, Petill said. Added revenue will help pay for district-subsidized meals for needy students.

Petill supports the goals of the bill. But in a district with more than half of its students on the free or reduced-cost lunch program, those who can neither cover meals nor qualify to receive them for free get lost in an ever-widening financial gap.

“That’s where the biggest problem is in our society,” he said. “If they can’t afford to pay for the meals and they don’t have enough money to buy the right nutrients, the right meals, then what are those kids eating?”

Petill began to push healthier lunches at a reasonable cost eight years ago and has since used some federal funding to start programs such as Farm to School, which incorporates locally grown produce into cafeterias, and Breakfast in the Classroom, which brings meals directly to students’ desks.

In terms of nutrition, the district is ahead of the game, said Kimberly Wright, the district’s menu systems development dietitian. The bill will help further that, but until officials pick through the hefty document, it’s unclear how just how it will affect the budget.

Wright said that in the meantime, the district will maintain its focus on providing nutritious meals and giving students and their families an idea of how they can continue the trend at home.

“Access and education,” Wright said. “That’s what it all boils down to.”